London Tube attack latest: Arrest made as terror threat raised to 'critical'
ISIS has claimed involvement in the train blast but has offered no evidence to support the claim.
Dover, about 80 miles southeast of London, is a port town with regular ferry services to France.
The
suspect, who was arrested under the Terrorism Act, was being held in a
local police station, the Met Police said. He will be transferred to a
south London police station "in due course," the statement said.
"It's
much too early to say" whether anyone behind the attack was previously
known to authorities, UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd said Saturday after
leading the second emergency meeting since Friday's attack of the
country's COBRA committee of police and intelligence chiefs.
Authorities also will work to keep in check bomb ingredients like those used in this case, she said.
"There
is no doubt that this was a serious IED (improvised explosive device)
... so we will have to make sure that we take all steps we can to ensure
that the materials that this man was able to collect become more and
more difficult to combine together," Rudd said.
British Transport Police monitor activity Friday at Euston Station in London.
Police
on Saturday afternoon also evacuated a residential address and
surrounding buildings in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, to the west of
London, as they carried out a search in connection with Friday's attack.
The evacuation was a "precautionary measure" following the arrest in Dover, the Met Police said in a statement.
Searches
continued later Saturday in Sunbury, with officers seen entering and
departing Cavendish Road, which had been cordoned off.
Reporters
at the scene attracted attention from residents, some of whom said they
were surprised anyone in Sunbury could be connected with the incident.
The
station in Parsons Green, southwest London, where an improvised device
exploded as a train stopped during the Friday morning rush hour,
reopened early Saturday -- with a visible police presence.
Meanwhile,
hundreds of police officers scoured CCTV footage, questioned dozens of
witnesses and studied the remnants of the device in search of clues to
the identity of those responsible.
Other developments
- UK terror threat level has been raised from "severe" to "critical," meaning an attack is expected imminently.
- Three of at least 30 people injured remained in a London hospital Saturday.
- ISIS said via its Amaq news agency that a "detachment" from the group had carried out the attack, but it gave no proof.
- Detectives have spoken with at least 45 witnesses and received scores of images from the public.
- More police were on patrol this weekend, in particular around "crowded places, iconic sites, transport hubs and ports," a police statement said.
Prime Minister Theresa May announced late Friday that the UK terror threat level had been raised to its highest level.
"The
public will see more armed police on the transport network and on our
streets, providing extra protection. This is a proportionate and
sensible step which will provide extra reassurance and protection while
the investigation progresses," May said.
"The threat of terrorism that we face is severe but together, by working together, we will defeat them," she said.
Police: 'Excellent progress'
Investigators
were making "excellent progress" toward identifying, locating and
arresting those behind what police have labeled a terrorist attack, Mark
Rowley, assistant commissioner of the Met Police, said late Friday.
Asked
about possible ISIS involvement, Rowley told reporters it is "routine"
for the extremist group to take responsibility for attacks in "these
sorts of circumstances," regardless of its actual involvement.
London
Mayor Sadiq Khan welcomed news of the arrest, saying "significant
activity" could be expected Saturday and over the days ahead. He also
urged anyone with information related to the investigation to contact
police.
"It is important we all
remain alert and vigilant," he said. "London will never be intimidated
by terrorism. We will always defeat those who seek to harm us and
destroy our way of life."
The
British Transport Police tweeted: "Nationwide, extra officers from BTP
are on duty today. If you see something suspicious, don't delay."
'Everyone started running'
Scenes of panic broke out Friday at Parsons Green as the explosion went off in a busy train carriage.
"Suddenly,
there was this boom," eyewitness Gustavo Vieira told CNN. "Everyone
shouting and screaming. ... We were just leaving the carriage (when the
blast happened) ... everyone starting running, ... and I didn't look
back."
Most of those injured had
flash burns, according to Rowley. None are thought to be in a serious or
life-threatening condition, the London Ambulance Service said.
Eyewitness Sylvain Pennec took this photo; he described panic as commuters escaped the carriage.
A
photograph taken by a witness showed what looked like a large plastic
bucket in a supermarket carrier bag with wires trailing from it and
flames licking the top.
A British
security source who was briefed on the investigation told CNN that a
timer was found on the device. It's clear the device was intended to
cause much greater damage, the source said, but cautioned that the
investigation is still in its preliminary stages.
Another
source briefed by investigators told CNN that an initial assessment of
the device indicates it is "highly likely" to have contained the
explosive TATP but that this has not been confirmed. It also appeared to
have been crude and poorly made, the source said.
"It
was the type of explosive similar to that that was used in Manchester;
(but) it didn't go off," UK Security Minister Ben Wallace told the BBC
on Saturday, referring to the concert-venue attack in May that killed 22 people, including children.
Certain ingredients to make such an explosive could be bought in ordinary stores, he said.
But unlike the Manchester attack, there was "no obvious bomber attached to this," prompting the police manhunt, Wallace said.
A Tube train is seen stopped at Parsons Green station on Friday.
Trump: 'We have to be tougher'
US President Donald Trump told reporters in the White House Rose Garden on Friday that "we have to be tougher, and we have to be smarter" in dealing with the terrorist threat.
Later,
speaking to members of the United States Air Force at Joint Base
Andrews near Washington, Trump said "radical Islamic terrorism" would be
eradicated.
His comments followed
controversy over tweets he posted earlier in the day in which he railed
against "loser terrorists" and suggested that the perpetrator was known
to UK authorities and recruited on the Internet.
Those tweets prompted May and a London police spokesperson to publicly rebuke the President.
